A well written if not unique piece of scholarship. It’s yet another book on the British Monarchy meant as more of an introduction to the different monarchs for the general public that is new to English/British history than the presentation of new scholarship for those already familiar or amateur historians with the subject. David Crowther of the History of England podcast and David Starkey do a much better job of reworking old material to make it interesting to a fan of history. While I enjoy reading and hearing about English history, a book on one of the lesser researched figures in English history would have been preferable to regurgitating old material.

First line: The mass of people expect a King or Queen to look and play the part.

Summary: A concise but short history of the kings and queens of England.

My Thoughts: This is my first book by Tracy Borman but I have been following her work through podcasts, articles and social media for years. She is someone I admire because she basically has my dream job. I really enjoyed this because it helped me understand different parts of English history especially the reasons behind the Hanoverian line in the succession.

Each king or queen was covered in several pages highlighting the main points of their reign. The writing was easy to read and informative. I have wanted to pick up several other books by Borman and now I will definitely prioritize them more.

FYI: Great for anyone interested in British history.

This was a great reference guide on the various monarchs of Great Britain. I will definitely be using this on any research on British politics in the future.

Again, I am very wary when it comes to books with the title "new" in them as I invariably find nothing new. And again there was really nothing new here for me. I am going to preface this review, however, by stating that I read only up to the reign of Anne for beyond that was not really within my purview - therefore whether there was anything "new" or not to be gleaned I will leave in the capable hands of another reader.

Borman compartmentalizes the book according to familial term designated for each ruler and their dynasty (ie: Stuarts, Normans, Plantagenets, Tudors, etc). As such, it is broken down as follows (making it easier to chose where you want to start).

Each section provides enough detail on and about each monarch and their reign; however, there are the usual tropes associated with a number of monarchs that I would hesitate in recommending it as an unbiased primer for someone starting. Having said that, there is enough here from which to launch into more detailed or specialised accounts.

Now whilst I mentioned that for me there was nothing new in the bulk of the narrative - there were a couple of little nuggets that I would have loved more detail on, as Borman disappointingly does not follow up with any actual source material. These nuggets are the type of thing that stands out for me - but as no source was / can be provided, it just falls within the realm of whimsical hearsay, and places this book back firmly on the shelf of popularist general history.

Still, there are many who will appreciate the condensed accounts of England's monarchs, spanning a period of some nine hundred odd years.

What an enjoyable book! well researched and well written this lengthy tome gives a potted but extremely interesting account of all the Kings and Queens since the Norman times. It is preceded by and introduction which informs us of the early English Kings before the 1066 Norman Conquest which really sets the scene for the reast of the book.
Crown & Sceptre is written in the same easy way that the author Tracy Borman presents her numerous television documentaries and I highly recommend it to any person with an interest in British history and/or its monarchy of the last millennium.
My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to give an honest and unbiased review.

A very well-researched book about the history of the British monarchy, covering from William the Conqueror to Queen Elizabeth II. The essays on each monarch were brief and objective, straight to the point and unbiased, though sometimes it looked too much on the bright side of things. It focuses much on the broader political scopes of their reign, rather than the going-ons of their domestic lives. Although I did feel that some of the essays were too long or perhaps it may have been because I didn't have much interest in some of the people here. Admittedly, there were a handful that I skipped. However, if you wish to have a brief background of the royals for research or a project this will be the book for you. I definitely learned a few new things from reading this book.

5 stars

This is a wonderful book. It gives a brief history of all the Kings and Queens since before the invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066 all the way through to the present. It also provides brief vignettes of their consorts (or, in some cases co-rulers). It gives a clear and unbiased textual treatment of these individuals. Some were good, some were bad. A few were very bad.

I learned new information in this book as well. For example, I did not realize that King George V was such a good man. I had the opinion that he was uncaring and very stern with his children.

This book is well written in a linear fashion. It is easy to read and accessible to everyone. I highly recommend this book to everyone who is interested in the British monarchy or British history. Ms. Borman is a wonderful historian and has done extensive research on her subjects. I can always count on her to give a clear-headed view of her subject.

I want to thank NetGalley and Grove Atlantic/Atlantic Monthly Press for forwarding to me a copy of this absolutely great and informative book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed here are solely my own.